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Vogue Russia – January 2011 cover.

Do you recognize her?

… She won the Olympics (as well as 18 world championship medals and 25 European championship medals)

(via Gymnastics Examiner)

British Gymnastics are delighted to announce that Nick Ruddock has been appointed into the new role of Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Junior National Coach.

Nick joins the BG Coaching Team with experience spanning clubs throughout Great Britain and America, as well as time spent at International training camps at home and abroad. Nick is a High Performance Coach and spent several years in an assistant position at Notts Gymnastics Club working with World and Olympic gymnasts, before moving to a Performance Coach role at the City of Manchester Institute. …

British Gymnastics

We assume the Voronin Cup will go in Moscow, December 17th and 18th.

We assume Viktoria Komova is competing.

Things are slowing down as we approach the holidays, though.

This might be your chance to catch up on all the recent news:

THE ALL AROUND – Weekly round-up: 3-12 December 2010

Gymnastics Examiner – The gymnastics week in review: Romanian retirements, pole dancing and cocaine

Blythe calls 2010 the “year of the comeback”, Shawn.

I know it’s hard to stay current on Yuri van Gelder’s cocaine relapses. But a lawyer claiming to represent him, emailed me declaring he definitely DID NOT do the drug prior to Worlds.

UPDATE:

Viktoria Komova … will compete at Voronin Cup among the seniors.

… current and former Russian national team members like Anna Pavlova or Yulia Lozhechko are scheduled to compete, as well as World winner Tatiana Nabieva …

THE ALL AROUND

The Men’s line-up is strong, too.

As TKO has been fairly quiet of late, Andy Thornton decided to rehash who should actually have won the 2008 Olympics.

He starts his analysis based on this Shawn montage.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

…was Nastia Liukin really the true winner of the Olympic all-around title, or was Shawn Johnson a bit underscored?

American Gymnast – Shawn Johnson…The New Underdog

At the time I felt that Nastia deserved to win. And I still do today. … But it’s so close that it could have gone either way.

Anna asked about that tricky and scary skill.

A young Khorkina competed the first (most difficult) half in 1992.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. (at 50sec)

I think Anna was remembering Canadian gymnast Meghan McCurdy circa 1985. She trained that skill with a “kip” (like a headspring) back up to her feet for 3yrs. … But in competition it was only awarded a C-part, not worth including.

We’re still trying to dig up an historic video of that version. Thanks George.

… according to Aunt Joyce.

He is not amused.

Blahtah held their Red Rocks preview and it looks like it may be time to panic for the Marsdens. …

… Utah graduated Ashley Postell, Nina Kim, Kristina Baskett, Daria Bijak and Annie Diluzio over the last few years. Unfortunately, they have no been able to replicate their performances or scores. Corrie Lothrop is a positive addition to the team, but she is incapable of holding up the team on her own. …

Aunt Joyce

A College team does need star power. It’s all about entertainment.

Check the discussion on College Gym Board.

It might take a good day for Utah to qualify for the Super 6 Team Finals season. But I wish them all the best. And Merry Christmas.

In Beam Finals, Peng Peng Lee finally stayed on on Barani. … Her exciting routine is entertaining.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

She finished 2nd to Maddie Gardiner. (VIDEO) … Maddie won Bars, with a fall. (I haven’t seen that video, as yet.)

See more routines and interviews on Gymnastics Canada.

(via Aunt Joyce)

(This is independent of the court case in which Townsville Gymnastics in Australia was fined $70,000. They’ve appealed.)

But here is the more important action, in my opinion:

TOWNSVILLE mother Anne Maitland is pleased her daughter Michelle’s death won’t be in vain, with the Queensland Government launching a safety assessment into the sport of gymnastics.

Michelle died from head injuries sustained during a fall on to a concrete floor at Townsville Gymnastics in June last year and yesterday Attorney-General and Minister for Industrial Relations Cameron Dick announced an investigation into the safety of the sport.

Mr Dick said Workplace Health and Safety Queensland staff will begin talking with gymnastics organisations and peak bodies before Christmas. …

read more – Assessment of safety in gyms

Coach Mike Outram hit concrete at the bottom of a pit coming off a trampoline, and we feared he would be paralyzed.

We can save the Queensland Government some time. It’s essential that there be no exposed concrete anywhere near a trampoline device. Nor at the bottom of any pit. Any organization that has not covered concrete should be liable, in case of accident.

Leave a comment if you know if Gymnastics Australia has made any official statement on this assessment or the court case.

Bea linked to photos of the book launch in Romania.

Her autobiography does not sound to be scandalous in any way. But I’ll be quick to buy a copy once it’s translated into English. To me she’s the real 2000 Olympic Champion.

At Toyota Cup. Love it.

A very competitive routine without over-using Rybalko or Kovacs.

… world class 15.75 here and placed third behind Zhang Chenglong (15.975) and Uchimura (15.875). Note that Ruggeri is scoring just 0.2 behind the world champion on this event….

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

… With Paul Hamm back in the mix next year and world team spots down to five, things will get tougher and tougher for guys like Paul Ruggeri. But if he continues to show this type of international potential, this might not be the last we see of him. …

American Gymnast